a very well-paying career relative
to others out there. So I see that
as a tremendous opportunity, and
at least today, from where we sit,
we have plenty of challenges in
this area.

JEFF MULDER: Faye, this is a quote
that I found interesting: “Training
programs using a competency-based
approach coupled with stringent
academic curricula in lieu of
the required hours approach in
traditional training methodologies
should be explored as a means
to better train and qualify those
pilots coming into the airlines with
minimal flight time.” That is from
the Air Line Pilots Association White
Paper: Producing a Professional
Airline Pilot, September 2009. What
are your thoughts on this?

FAYE MALARKEY BLACK: I think
the answer to that is multifold.

As Bill said, and for me, lookingat the bigger picture, we knowthat commercial airlines, and Imean regional airlines as well asmainlines, have got to do more tonot just attract and entice futureaviators to the workforce and to sellthis career, to really make the PReffort and get the message out thataviation is still a great career; thereis wonderful career advancementand wage progression in thisindustry. The market has reacted tothe scarcity of commercial airlinepilots with an unprecedentedinvestment in that workforce, withhigher wages and bonuses andother attractive benefits. We needto do more to get that message out— that this always has been a greatcareer and is today more attractivethan ever.

On the other side of the equation
is the pilot career path and, I think
the real challenge for our industry
is that we are contending with a
broken pilot career pipeline. So
it’s not just a matter of attracting
folks, which certainly we need
to do more of, but also in taking
them from their first dream of
flight through their professional
training and airline training then
getting them into the right seat of
the commercial flight deck with the
right experiences.

So, as part of the back story or
context here is the FAA’s recent
First Officer Qualification rule. Our
industry gets pinged for wanting to
roll that rule back. That’s not true.

We supported the overall rule as a
very important safety framework,
particularly with respect to
the aeronautical experience
requirements. The rule added
valuable experience components for
first officers, such as training for
severe weather conditions and high-altitude operations. All of that was
important in advancing safety.

There’s a corner of that rule that
required 1,500 hours and an air
transport pilot certificate for first
officers. Formerly, the ATP was a
captain’s certificate, recognized
as part of a progression in their
career. The law now says first
officers have to have an ATP or a
restricted ATP to fly in Part 121
operations, and the 1,500 hours
that once reflected hours flown
as part of a pilot’s professional
career progression. By requiring
the ATP at the outset of a pilot’s
career, the hours of experience
required don’t reflect a reality for
pilots starting their professional
career and don’t necessarily offer
valuable, actual experience. It’s not
the idea of additional experience for
first officers we object to — it’s the
notion that you define experience
by hours; that you assume all
hours are equally enriching. And
so, initially, we said — and the
ALPA white paper you’ve quoted,
Jeff, reflects a similar sentiment I
think — that there’s a better way
to measure experience than simply
hours in flight. Initially we said,
“It’s quality and not quantity that
matters” and that’s true, but I think
our position has matured. It’s more
than that. It’s actually looking
at those experience components,
identifying the ones that matter,
and making sure first officers have
them. And we propose to put airline
skin in the game, to really put forth
a real solution, providing these
critical experience components
through training — that’s what
airlines do and that’s how we
can offer a safer way to achieve
the objective of increasing first
officer experience. But let’s make
one thing clear: the rule already
allows for alternate pathways to a
restricted ATP, acknowledging these
alternate pathways safe, as safer,
avenues that ensure first officers
have the right experiences. These
alternate pathways already exist,
so suggestions that we want to roll